Board game with dropped weighted game pieces

ABSTRACT

A target game with, for example, weighted game pieces or unweighted game pieces and game boards onto which the weighted or unweighted game pieces are dropped is disclosed, The elements of the game may include, for example, playing surface, targets and playing pieces. The target areas may be used to progress throughout the game using one or more game pieces.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims priority, under 35 U.S.C.§119, of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/338,984,entitled Game—“Corqué” AKA Classic Corque, filed on Mar. 1, 2010, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates, for example, to games, and moreparticularly, to games with weighted game pieces and game boards ontowhich the weighted pieces are dropped.

Games to improve manual skills involving game boards with targets havelong existed and have been produced in many forms. The conventional,modern dart game, for example, typically employs a board which isseparated by radial extending rays and circumferential rings at whichplayers may aim when throwing projectiles from a predetermined distance.There are also numerous games where a player throws or bounces a ball,disk, or the like onto a horizontal board or other target with theintention of having the ball or disk be seated at rest in either anaperture or depression, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos.6,866,268 and 7,207,565, which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

As indicated above, games having projectiles, balls, disks or the likethrown at target or game boards exist in the prior art. However, nonedisclose, for example, a game hoard onto which weighted pieces aredropped to stand vertically, in targeted areas, depending on the boarddesign.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to, for example, weighted game pieces andgame boards onto which the weighted game pieces can be dropped. Oneembodiment of the present invention includes, for example, a game boardhaving an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper surface havingone or more target areas, and one or more game pieces having a first endhaving a diameter and a second end having a diameter greater than thediameter of the first end. Another embodiment of the present inventionincludes, for example, a game board having an upper surface and a lowersurface, the upper surface configured having one or more target areas,and one or more game pieces having a first end having a diameter and asecond end having a diameter greater than the diameter of the first end,wherein the game pieces are weighted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

Some features and advantages of the various embodiments of the inventionare described with reference to the drawings of certain preferredembodiments, which are intended to illustrate and exemplify and not tolimit the invention.

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention that together with the description serve to explain theprinciples of the invention:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A-2D are perspective views of an embodiment of a tossing gamepiece.

FIGS. 3A 3D are perspective views of an embodiment of a tossing gamepiece.

FIGS. 4A-4D are perspective views of an embodiment of a tossing gamepiece.

FIGS. 5A-5D are perspective views of an embodiment of a tossing gamepiece.

FIG. 6 depicts various embodiments of a tossing game piece.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the invention, wherein the playing surfacedepicts a basketball court.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the playingsurface depicts a billiards table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to theparticular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques,uses, and applications described herein, as these may vary. It is alsoto be understood that the terminology used herein is used for thepurpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intendedto limit the scope of the present invention. It must be noted that asused herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,”and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is areference to one or more elements, and includes equivalents thereofknown to those skilled in the art. Similarly, for another example, areference to “a step” or “a means” is a reference to one or more stepsor means and may include sub-steps or subservient means. Allconjunctions used are to be understood in the most inclusive sensepossible. Thus, the word “or” should be understood as having thedefinition of a logical “or” rather than that of a logical “exclusiveor” unless the context clearly necessitates otherwise. Structuresdescribed herein are to be understood also to refer to functionalequivalents of such structures. Language that may be construed toexpress approximation should be so understood unless the context clearlydictates otherwise.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art to which this invention belongs. Preferred methods,techniques, devices and materials are described although any methods,techniques, devices, or materials similar or equivalent to thosedescribed may be used in the practice or testing of the presentinvention. Structures described herein are to be understood also torefer to functional equivalents of such structures.

All patents and other publications are incorporated herein by referencefor the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, themethodologies described in such publications that might be useful inconnection with the present invention. These publications are providedsolely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the presentapplication, Nothing in this regard should be construed as an admissionthat the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure byvirtue of prior invention or for any other reason.

The game is played, for example, by dropping a weighted game piece ontoa game board such that the weighted game piece stands upright, on eitherof its ends, and flush in one of the targets of the game board. Thepercentage of times that the weighted game piece will stand upright willdepend on where in the game piece a weight is placed. Game piecesstanding 95% of the time will take less skill to drop in the desiredposition than one that stands only 75% of the time. Such varyingdifficulties motivates players to repeatedly play the game in order todevelop a higher skill level.

The weighted game pieces may be constructed of, for example, cork, afoam composite, rubber, plastic, or one or more of any of various othermaterials. The game pieces are generally cork-like in shape, with oneend having a diameter larger than the other.

FIG. 1 depicts an exploded embodiment of the present invention. Theelements of the game include, for example, a support element 100,playing surface 120, self-contained, interlocking box 130 and gamepieces 200, 300, 400 and 500.

In some embodiments, the weighted game pieces may have embedded in thempellet-like weights which will affect difficultly and required skilllevel. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A-5D, game piece 200 may containone or more pellets 210 placed on or within the game piece near one end,for example the end with the smaller diameter (“tapered end” of the gamepiece). Game piece 300 may contain one or more pellets 310 placed on orwithin game piece 300 at a position in the game piece away from thetapered end of the game piece. Game piece 400 may contain a singlepellet 410 placed within game piece 400. Finally, game piece 500 may notcontain an interior weighting pellet. The varying use of pellets andtheir placement within the game pieces may, for example, create varyinglevels of difficulty in the game. Alternatively, game pieces may includecomposite structures having, for example, materials of varied densities,mass, aerodynamic shape or geometry, or other material properties orgeometric shapes causing one end or portion to have a greater weight orotherwise assume an orientation because of the nature of the compositestructure. For example, instead of a pellet, a fluid could be applied,or a metal portion could be affixed at one location or another on apiece that is made of cork or wood and therefore not as dense or heavyas the metal element. The term “weighted” in this instance is intendedto include that the game piece or pieces include a greater or addedweight in a particular portion or aspect of the game piece.

The game boards include targets that are slightly larger than thestanding surface of one end of the game piece. As shown in FIG. 7, thetop of the playing surface may resemble basketball court 700 withbaskets 720 and player spots 710. FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment ofrectangular playing surface 800 in which, for example, games based onbilliards may be played. The configuration in FIG. 8 allows forutilization of the rules of eight-ball billiards, for example, modifiedas follows. For example, each player may drop their game piece on thelow (1-7) or high (9-15) balls 810 before taking a drop shot at theeight ball 820. Additional shots may be given if a player successfullydrops their game piece on the bumpers 830. In another embodiment, thetarget may be in the form of one or more bulls eyes in the center ofplaying surface. In another embodiment, a playing surface may includemultiple targets arranged in a tic-tac-toe grid. Once the player has hita target, he or she may proceed to play until he or she achieves atic-tac-toe. In yet another embodiment, the targets may be arranged toresemble a baseball diamond. In yet another embodiment, the targets maybe arranged to resemble the solar system. In yet another embodiment, thegame board may be designed to resemble a golf course. In someembodiments, the game board may be electronic and light up when a targetis hit. These possible embodiments represent only non-limiting examplesof the various playing surface and target configurations that arepossible within the scope of this invention.

The weighted game pieces may also be designed according to the gamebeing played, as shown, for example, in FIG. 6. For example, theweighted game piece may include a stitching design resembling that ofplaying cards, a baseball, or other designs that resemble the game beingplayed by the users. In another embodiment of the present invention, theweighted game pieces may have a white rough exterior simulating thesurface of a golf ball. In another embodiment of the present invention,when played with the game board resembling the solar system, theweighted game piece may be designed to resemble a space capsule. FIG. 6depicts various example embodiments of game piece, including, forexample, a game piece with card suits for use in conjunction with ablackjack table element on the playing surface.

This invention has been described herein in several embodiments, It isevident that there are many alternatives and variations that can embracethe performance of ceramics enhanced by the present invention in itsvarious embodiments without departing from the intended spirit and scopethereof. The embodiments described above are exemplary only. One skilledin the art may recognize variations from the embodiments specificallydescribed here, which are intended to be within the scope of thisdisclosure. As such, the invention is limited only by the followingclaims. Thus it is intended that the present invention cover themodifications of this invention provided they come within the scope ofthe appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An apparatus comprising: a game board having an upper surface and alower surface, the upper surface having a target area; and one or moregame pieces, each having a first end and a second end, wherein thediameter of the first end is greater than the diameter of the secondend.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the game pieces are eachweighted in the same portion of the game piece,
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein at least one game piece is weighted in a differentportion of the game piece than the other game pieces.
 4. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the game board is configured to resemble a golfcourse.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the game board is configuredto resemble a pool table.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the gameboard is configured to resemble a playing card table.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the game board is configured to resemble a baseballfield.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the game board is configuredto resemble a space capsule,
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thegame board is configured to resemble tic-tac-toe.
 10. An apparatuscomprising: a game board having an upper surface and a lower surface,the upper surface having a target area; and one or more game pieces,each having a first end and a second end, wherein the game pieces areweighted on the second end.